All posts tagged music

A list of the albums I listened to today while studying french, followed by a link to my favourite track (if it’s on youtube), or the only track that’s on youtube. And probably a spiel.

Exile in Guyville Liz Phair

My partner loves this album (he says it’s probably his all-time-favourite) and, though I liked parts of it, I never really got into it. But then I ordered it, and when it arrived I put it on and it just… clicked. Such a brilliant album.

Mesmerizing | Glory

The Dreaming Kate Bush

Her best, without a doubt. A truly passionate album, it’s unfortunate that no one seemed to get it.

Sat In Your Lap | All The Love

Neptune City Nicole Atkins

There’s so much amazing about this album: her voice, the songs, the orchestrations, the feelings, the album as a whole… Neptune City is a really beautiful album, nostalgic in sound and in feeling.

Maybe Tonight (my favourite is actually “Together We Are Both Alone”, but it’s not on youtube. yet.)

Maxinquaye Tricky

I don’t think I’ve ever listened to this all the way through. A ground-breaking album, Maxinquaye is split between songs that still sound fresh and those that have become extremely stale. It’s still his masterpiece: though his later work held moments of promise, even brilliance, it never reached this level again (though some say, and I may agree, that Knowle West Boy is almost, if not as, good, a kind of modern-day Maxinquaye. Then again, after Vulnerable anything would’ve been amazing).

Overcome

Moderat Moderat

This album is very tied to about a year and a bit ago when I really got into Modeselektor, Apparat and, as a consequence, Moderat. I still love this album, but it’s like my taste has moved in a different direction to how it seemed to be moving then. On the other hand, this is another album that took me a while to get into before I was able to realise how brilliant it is.

Rusty Nails | Seamonkey

The Milk-Eyed Mender Joanna Newsom

Of all the artists I listen to, Joanna Newsom is probably the one who most obviously matures through her work: her early EPs show promise, but are… immature, for want of another word. The Milk-Eyed Mender is good, but it has never held the same appeal as Ys, though it is more digestible (except if you can’t stand her voice), and there are some excellent songs on it.

Sprout and the Bean | Peach Plum Pear (amazing live version here)

Pink Moon Nick Drake

If you’re going to die, I guess make sure you do it after your best work: though Kate Bush has had to live through “The Red Shoes”, Nick Drake released Pink Moon then signed off. A stunning beautiful album that proves that the guitar isn’t the instrument everyone thinks it is and is in fact remarkably versatile. With so much beauty, it’s sad that it’s such a short-ride, clocking at just over 28 minutes, though perhaps if it were any longer it wouldn’t be so perfect.

Place to Be | Parasite

And that’s a wrap. For today, at least.

I’m cleaning out iTunes because I’m sick of having it being large and unmanagable and full of music I never listen to. SO I’m going to clear everything out and start again. Hurrah! I’m scho schmart.

And then I might actually listen to more music rather than going “WHYYYYYY 5 days of unlistenedto music?!?! WHYY?!?!”

Which I clearly do a lot.

ANYHOO, in honour of the occasion, I have compiled my list of “Top 100 Most Played” song according to the play count in iTunes. Which might be interesting, or might just help you stop being bored. Or help you be bored. BLAH.

It was originally top 50, but then I thought “What the heck; let’s go out with a BANG!”

And because I should be studying French but…

Yes. Anyway. Here it is:

(items in italics were added this year)

TOP 100 Most Played

1. 2 Wicky - Hooverphonic (392)

2. Deep Honey - Goldfrapp (313)

3. Hairy Trees - Goldfrapp (291)

4. Overpowered - Róisín Murphy (230)

5. Mad About You - Hooverphonic (217)

6. Ooh La La - Goldfrapp (214)

7. Sometimes - Hooverphonic (192)

8. Magenta - Hooverphonic (189)

9. You Never Know - Goldfrapp (185)

10. Slave To Love - Róisín Murphy (180)

11. You Hurt Me (Remix) - Hooverphonic (178)

12. Stay Tuned - Anja Garbarek (164)

13. Black Cherry - Goldfrapp (163)

14. Strict Machine - Goldfrapp (163)

15. Let It Take You - Goldfrapp (163)

16. Lovely Head - Goldfrapp (162)

17. Ruby Blue - Róisín Murphy (162)

18. An Echo A Stain - Björk (153)

19. No More Sweet Music - Hooverphonic (153)

20. Psyche (Flash Treatment) - Massive Attack (152)

21. Everytime We Live Together We Die A Bit More - Hooverphonic (150)

22. Human - Goldfrapp (148)

23. You Love Me To Death - Hooverphonic (146)

24. This Strange Effect - Hooverphonic (145)

25. Nirvana Blue - Hooverphonic (143)

26. One - Hooverphonic (142)

27. Crystalline Green - Goldfrapp (137)

28. Autoharp - Hooverphonic (134)

29. Someone - Hooverphonic (134)

30. Ride a White Horse - Goldfrapp (127)

31. Those Feelings - Herbert (126)

32. Wake Up - Hooverphonic (123)

33. Ramalama (Bang Bang) - Róisín Murphy (123)

34. Pink Fluffy Dinosaurs - Hooverphonic (120)

35. Birds of a Feather - Herbert (118)

36. Hunter - Björk (116)

37. Who Is It - Björk (115)

38. Cosmic Love - Florence + The Machine (111)

39. Let Me Know - Róisín Murphy (111)

40. The Girl and the Robot - Röyksopp (111)

41. When You’re Good to Mama - Queen Latifah (110)

42. Yeah Yeah - Bodyrox feat. Luciana (109)

43. Music Box - Hooverphonic (109)

44. Innervoice - Hooverphonic (108)

45. Biscuit - Portishead (108)

46. Nowawdays/Hot Honey Rag - Catherine Zeta-Jones/Renée Zellweger (107)

47. Number 1 - Goldfrapp (107)

48. Close To You - The Avalanches (106)

49. Tiptoe - Goldfrapp (106)

50. Silent Shout - The Knife (106)

51. Dissolved Girl - Massive Attack (105)

52. Movie Star - Róisín Murphy (105)

53. Leopard - Bristol Blonde (104)

54. It Could Be Sweet - Portishead (104)

55. Pleasure is All Mine - Björk (102)

56. Overture/And All That Jazz - Catherine Zeta-Jones/Renée Zellweger (102)

57. Frozen - Dani Siciliano (102)

58. Hung Up - Madonna (101)

59. Nowadays (Roxie) - Renée Zellweger (101)

60. Moan (Trentemøller Remix Radio Edit) - Trentemøller (101)

61. Train - Goldfrapp (100)

62. Step Aside For The Man (Demo) - Scissor Sisters (98)

63. Oceania - Björk (97)

64. Horse Tears - Goldfrapp (97)

65. Over - Portishead (97)

66. Be My Producers - Dani Siciliano (95)

67. Pontificate - The Matthew Herbert Big Band (95)

68. One Way Ride - Hooverphonic (94)

69. Sarangi - Hooverphonic (94)

70. Sleep Deprivation - Simian Mobile Disco (94)

71. Vertebrae By Vertebrae - Björk (93)

72. I Miss You - Herbert (93)

73. Out of Sight - Hooverphonic (92)

74. You Don’t Have A Clue - Röyksopp (92)

75. Out of Tune - Hooverphonic (91)

76. Happy Up Here - Röyksopp (91)

77. Twist - Goldfrapp (90)

78. Sunday Morning - Hooverphonic (90)

79. Good Luck - Basement Jaxx feat. Lisa Kekaula (89)

80. Electro Shock Faders - Hooverphonic (89)

81. My Child (Remix) - Hooverphonic (89)

82. Jackie’s Delirium - Hooverphonic (89)

83. Tuna - Hooverphonic (88)

84. Slippage - Goldfrapp (87)

85. Eurochild - Massive Attack (87)

86. Pilots - Goldfrapp (85)

87. Foreign Bodies - Herbert (85)

88. Creator - Santogold (85)

89. Lounge Suite - Sister Act (84)

90. None Of Dem - Robyn feat. Röyksopp (83)

91. What Else Is There? - Röyksopp (83)

92. Class - Catherine Zeta-Jones/Queen Latifah (82)

93. Mr. Hurricane - Beast (81)

94. A&E - Goldfrapp (81)

95. Get It Get It - Scissor Sisters (81)

96. Ginger - Hooverphonic (80)

97. No More Sweet Music (Remix) - Hooverphonic (81)

98. Others Delight - Hooverphonic (80)

99. Moving Forward - Bitter:Sweet (79)

100. Sow Into You - Róisín Murphy (79)

And bonus tracks!

101. Tom the Model - Beth Gibbons (78)

102. All Mine - Portishead (78)

Well, there you have it. Aren’t you glad you’re so interested in my musical tastes*?

KATANG!

*because I probably listened so others several million times on youtube, or on the other computer, or listening on CD, this isn’t exactly representative of what I listen to all the time. And some of those songs I haven’t listened to since 2007 (wut.) but theyr’e still holding onto their title with pride. But not much longer, my lovlies…

I love you guys.

This will likely mess with your head, or bore you to tears. But I find it interesting that they all connect up. Even a group like Crystal Castles, which, at the start, didn’t seem to fit in anywhere, is actually related.

I might actually make this into a chart at some point. It is, afterall, uni holidays.

HOOVERPHONIC opened for FIONA APPLE in her 1997 tour of the US, and also toured Europe with MASSIVE ATTACK. MASSIVE ATTACK originally included TRICKY, who also contributed to their second album. TRICKY’S first few albums featured MARTINA TOPLEY-BIRD, who later worked with MASSIVE ATTACK. TRICKY’s first album also included a song featuring the vocals of Alison GOLDFRAPP, and another that sampled ISAAC HAYES’ “Ike’s Rap II”: this song also sampled by PORTISHEAD for their first album. Another song from PORTISHEAD’s first album was later sampled for TRICKY’s 2008 album. TRICKY has collaborated with BJÖRK.

HOOVERPHONIC, TRICKY, MASSIVE ATTACK, and PORTISHEAD have all sampled ISAAC HAYES (cited as an influence by many artists). HOOVERPHONIC has also sampled HENRI MANCINI.

Will Gregory of GOLDFRAPP recently collaborated with Adrian Utley of PORTISHEAD to write a new soundtrack for a silent film. Gregory also contributed to PORTISHEAD’s third album.

PORTISHEAD are of the Island Records label, along with FLORENCE + THE MACHINE and LADYHAWKE. LADYHAWKE is released locally by Modular Records, who also sign THE PRESETS and THE AVALANCHES. Grace Jones, a former artist of the Island Records label, is now signed to Wall Of Sound: RÖYKSOPP, Mogwai, and Tiga are also signed to the label. Tiga has worked with Jake Shears of SCISSOR SISTERS, and remixed one of their singles. RÖYKSOPP has featured vocals of ROBYN and KARIN DREIJER ANDERSSON of THE KNIFE and FEVER RAY, and wrote a song for ANNIE’s debut album. FEVER RAY’s debut album was produced by Christoffer Berg, Van Rivers, and The Subliminal Kid, all of whom contributed remixes to MASSIVE ATTACK’s EP “Splitting The Atom”. A song by RÖYKSOPP and featuring KARIN DREIJER ANDERSSON was remixed by TRENTEMØLLER. Another song featuring ANDERSSON was remixed by APPARAT, who is part of collaborative project MODERAT with MODESELEKTOR: APPARAT, MODERAT, and MODESELEKTOR are all signed to BPitch Control.

BJÖRK’s first album was produced by Nellee Hooper, who also produced MASSIVE ATTACK’s second album and has worked with SNEAKER PIMPS.

BJÖRK has worked with Mark Bell of LFO, an artist of the Warp record label. Also signed to this label are BOARDS OF CANADA, BIBIO, FLYING LOTUS, and GONJASUFI. GONJASUFI was discovered by FLYING LOTUS and contributed vocals to a track on his first album.

BJÖRK is Icelandic, along with JONSI of SIGUR ROS and EMILIANA TORRINI. JONSI’s first solo album was released by XL Recordings. SIGUR ROS is signed to the XL Recordings label, along with GOTAN PROJECT, BASEMENT JAXX, M.I.A., and PEACHES. M.I.A. and SANTIGOLD have both worked with Diplo and Switch. ROBYN has also worked with Diplo. Switch has also remixed for SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO, BASEMENT JAXX, and BJÖRK.

PEACHES has worked with SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO and Soulwax, the latter of whom has also worked with Tiga, and has remixed BASEMENT JAXX and LADYHAWKE. James Ford of SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO also produced FLORENCE + THE MACHINE’s debut album.

Soulwax worked with Crookers on their first album, which also had two songs featuring the vocals of ROISIN MURPHY. ROISIN MURPHY’s second album featured collaborations with Andy Cato of GRoovE ARMadA and Richard X, who has also worked with ANNIE and M.I.A. Her first album was produced and co-written by MATTHEW HERBERT (also known as HERBERT), whom she met when he remixed a song for MOLOKO, of which she was originally a part. HERBERT is friends with Matmos and challenged one of the members to produced a house record: the result of this challenge is The Soft Pink Truth. Matmos and MATTHEW HERBERT have both worked with BJÖRK, and HERBERT has also remixed songs by THE AVALANCHES.

MATTHEW HERBERT later met DANI SICILIANO, who contributed vocals to several of his albums, then went on to make two albums of her own (which MATTHEW HERBERT helped produce). HERBERT and DANI SICILIANO are both signed to Studio !K7: also signed is Erlend Øye, of Whitest Boy Alive. Erlend Øye also contributed vocals to RÖRKSOPP’s first album and a song by DNTEL.

CRYSTAL CASTLES’ second album features a song that samples vocals from a song by SIGUR ROS. The album was also produced by Jacknife Lee, who has worked with Howie B (BJÖRK/TRICKY collaborator), has remixed for BJÖRK, Radiohead, and BASEMENT JAXX, and has released an album on One Little Indian Records under the name Jack Planck. Also signed to One Little Indian Records are BJÖRK, SIGUR ROS, SNEAKER PIMPS and EMILIANA TORRINI.

And that is that :)

(I’ve probably mised out a few links, but I think that’s pretty darn good)